


One Step Ahead

by GuardianDreamer



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, POV First Person, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardianDreamer/pseuds/GuardianDreamer
Summary: The love between two tired souls is a very peaceful one, albeit one still susceptible to everyday worries and anxieties. But regardless of that, the two move on together. Still, maybe Jaehee can be convinced to get more rest than she does. Takes place after Jaehee's route, spoilers for that route but not any of the others. The protagonist is the MC but goes unnamed due to a lack of a canon name.





	One Step Ahead

No matter how tired I was, it always seemed like Jaehee was one step ahead of me. She was the type to always seem one step ahead in some way or another, but this wasn’t something that I could remotely consider positive. While I yawned, she would always stifle her own yawns, but I could tell from her eyes that she was a lot more tired than I was. Her professionalism partially concealed her exhaustion in the past, but there was a limit to how long that could be kept up now that we spent so much time around each other. So I was grateful when Jaehee finally could get the rest that she so desperately needed. Rest that was only obtained after a complete career change and a strong insistence on my part that she work less, but rest all the same.

She really did look at ease while sleeping. I knew that she would wake up before long, but if I could grant her even an additional moment of rest, I would. … Come to think of it, it seemed strange to imagine myself in this position. Strange compared to where I was just a year ago. The tired, overworked office lady who I had met on a chat of wonderful eccentrics that hid many secrets. The same overworked person who seemed so reluctant to show any weaknesses, but to my great joy, she finally let her guard down around me and allowed herself to be honest. I didn’t want to sound too self-congratulatory. I gave Jaehee support, but she’s the one who chose to change her career path entirely. Despite how tired she was, I always thought that she shined radiantly whenever she was allowed to just be herself for a moment. That tired radiance was what drew me to her in the first place. Jaehee really did feel like a kindred spirit to someone as lost as I was.

Jaehee was tossing and turning now. Maybe that’s too exaggerated a metaphor. She made very subtle movements, to the point that they would have felt calculated if she had actually been awake. I recognized this as the sign that she was about to wake up. There were a rare few times when she woke up before I did, but I had long since gotten to the point where I woke up slightly earlier despite the lack of an alarm. In the back of my mind, I remembered that some of the other members of the RFA would be visiting later today. I smiled a bit, without fully meaning to. Would they agree with me when I pointed out how much livelier Jaehee seemed nowadays?

“Hm… Huh? Oh… Good morning. How are you doing?” Jaehee whispered that to me, placing one of her hands over mine. Despite the fact that we now shared a bed, she always seemed a bit awkward about displays of affection. Really, she seemed to have things a bit backwards. Who shared a bed with someone without any hesitation, only to then blush and get embarrassed about holding hands? … The woman that I had fallen in love with, apparently.

“I’m fine, Jaehee. I love you. Also, you should get some more sleep, don’t you think?” I tried to slip in that last part quickly as if Jaehee would magically go back to sleep without thinking it through.

“... No, but a good effort. It might be a day off, but I can’t afford to oversleep. It’s not good for my health…” Jaehee said this quietly, and I fully hoped that she was aware of the irony that her former habit of not getting enough sleep was just as unhealthy. Oh well. I’d just have to try to get her to relax as much as I could.

I delicately brushed some of her hair aside with my hands, silently taking note of just how much longer her hair had gotten since I had first met her, not directly responding to what she had said with any snark. I could get extremely sarcastic if I wanted to, but Jaehee was maddeningly skilled at responding to any snark so seriously that I was often left confused about whether or not she was also somehow messing with me. … Not that I was complaining. She was always able to play along with a joke under the right circumstances, contrary to many people’s assumptions, but it felt like she was allowing herself to laugh more often. … I couldn’t help but feel proud of her.

“Jaehee? I’m glad I met you. I’m glad that you trusted me enough because it led to... All of this. If that makes sense?” I wasn’t sure where this was coming from, but I was feeling oddly nostalgic. My thoughts were dominated by what-if scenarios. What if Jaehee and I hadn’t gotten as close as we did? What if I hadn’t ever crossed paths with the RFA in the first place? What if I had given Jaehee different advice? It was a strange thing to be suddenly concerned with, but to me, it wasn’t sudden at all. These were quiet doubts that had slowly manifested themselves, and I knew that not expressing them in some way would just lead to more negative feelings that I would do my best to avoid if I could help it.

Apparently, Jaehee had similar concerns about my sudden honesty. “Are you feeling alright? If me getting some rest would really ease your concerns, I could try to oblige.”

I shook my head ever so slightly. “No, it’s not that. I just… I want you to know that you’re valued. It’s been a while, but I felt like reminding you.”

Jaehee didn’t say anything in response, but she did squeeze my hand slightly. I always felt like she was stronger than she gave herself credit for. I looked into her eyes and I felt understood. I could only hope that she saw something similar when she looked into mine. That was the only response that I needed. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and yawned. Very loudly. It dawned on me that in most circumstances, that would have been seen as embarrassing, but I didn’t mind if Jaehee heard me. The point where I was embarrassed around her had passed us quite a while ago now. It wasn’t a yawn indicating that I needed more sleep, but instead, a yawn indicating that I was very well-rested. It was strange how that worked. None of that, however, solved the predicament in front of me. Could I convince Jaehee to go back to sleep, or should I try to get up?

Reluctantly, I chose the latter option, trying to fully enjoy the comfort and warmth that came with sharing a bed with the person that I loved before I was pulled back into the cruel, cruel real world. … I was being slightly melodramatic. The bed would still be there and Jaehee would be with me regardless. But I played up my annoyance a bit more than was needed in order to get Jaehee to laugh. With her extremely blank expression as a response to my overly-exasperated antics, I ended up being the one laughing instead. … Not my best performance, but at least my laughter had managed to bring a small smile to her face. I would consider that a victory well-fought for. Once she got up herself, Jaehee spoke up once more.

“Being as honest as you are requires immense courage. Reassuring me like this… Isn’t strictly necessary, but please continue to do it. It makes me happy.”

With that clumsy yet endearing effort to match my honesty, Jaehee lifted herself up from the bed that we shared. I took the chance to lean in closer, and after she nodded her consent, I embraced and kissed her. Once again, I felt that our love was a very calm one. I could feel myself blushing and my heart beating faster, but the love we shared was very… Mature, for lack of a better word. Which I suppose matched us. It was still just as strong regardless.

The day was a beautiful one and I would be glad to spend many more just like them with her. Her smile eased the anxieties and worries in my heart.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long while now since I've played Mystic Messenger. To give some context as to how long it's been, when I played it there wasn't even a V route. But I always did have an idea somewhere to write about Jaehee Kang, the tired office lady who was so extremely easy to relate to. While I also had interest in writing other characters, I wanted to make a fanfiction where the MC/Jaehee pairing actually happened instead of being heavy subtext (that I see as basically text at points), and so that's what I went with. This also explains why this fic is so self-contained, as I really wanted to explore their dynamic specifically.
> 
> An issue with writing a protagonist without a canon name and whose responses you primarily choose is that I end up wondering how different my interpretation of the protagonist is from everyone else's. As I write her, the protagonist of Mystic Messenger is very emotive and the type to constantly mull over the most minor of details. For Jaehee's route specifically, I also imagine her as a former office worker who grew discontent with that life shortly before getting roped into the events of the main plot. But I know that other people will have completely different interpretations. And that's to be expected, but I just hope that my interpretation remains interesting regardless even if it isn't the one other people have.
> 
> I hope that you enjoyed reading this fic. It was a lot of fun writing it and it made me nostalgic for how I'd often rework my schedule so that I could read the chats in time (though that probably wasn't very healthy).


End file.
